CO2 foam injection in carbonate reservoirs for enhanced oil recovery and CO2 storage: Mechanisms, applications, and challenges

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Conventional CO 2 flooding provides limited oil recovery because of early CO 2 breakthrough and poor sweep efficiency in heterogeneous carbonate reservoirs. In contrast, CO 2 foam flooding, generated in-situ using surfactants, offers improved mobility control, increased oil displacement, and additional CO 2 storage benefits. This review evaluates recent advances in CO 2 foam-enhanced oil recovery based on experiments, simulations, and field-scale applications, with particular emphasis on nanoparticle-stabilized foams because of their improved stability and sweep efficiency. Furthermore, the review presents key site-selection criteria and examines technical challenges, including injectivity and foam propagation. It also discusses pore-scale displacement mechanisms, economic considerations, CO 2 storage potential, and current knowledge gaps to guide future research and support commercial deployment.